The first time I climbed Olympus. Me, my sister and two friends, arrived Friday night and camped at the beach Litohoro's beach at the foot of Olympus. Saturday morning ascended from Gortsa to the muses plateau. We didn't go for the summit as the Mytikas coloir was crowded and rock fall danger was high. Sunday we descended to Prionia

I did it with my wife in 11 hours round trip. It truly is beautiful. It is not as sparsely vegetated as I thought it would be at the bottom. There is a little scramble at the top to Myticas, but you don't need a rope in the summer. You should be comfortable with a little exposure, however. Litochoro is a gem of a town. I wish we had a couple more days to hang out there.

It was my first ascent of the mountain (I was at the age of 16). We followed one of the longest route.We needed 2 days to complete our ascent. The first day we followed the snowy footpath from Diastavrossi, we reached the Skourta peak and continued to the Mousson plateau (mousson means clios) via the Skourta ridge. Before the plateau there was (and there is also) a fixed wire rope in a point wich we called "Yossos jump". The wire rope is placed in a small rock field which is dangerous in winter with snow. We spent the night in the refuge "Yossos Apostolidis". The next day we woke up early (about 4 o'clock a.m.), roped up, traversed the peak Stefani (or Zeus' throne - it looks like god's throne) and we reached the summit Mitikas via the Mitikas Couloir (40 - 45 degrees in the exit-it depends on the snow fall). For the descent we reversed the route.

Avalanche risk exists in the traverse of Stefani and the Mitikas' couloirl.

The Olympus is a magnificent Greek mountain ideal for all seasons and most of the mountain activities such as hiking, climbing, mountaineering ski etc.